IF Box Office Opening Falls Short of Expectations

IF isn't the box office hit predicted by industry analysts. The family film, set in a world in which imaginary friends are real, grossed $33.7M during its three-day domestic opening weekend, according to Variety.

That’s roughly $10 million below predicted takings of $40 million. A reported production budget of $110 million means the film is a long way off breaking even. Despite underperforming, $33.7M is still a solid return for an original, PG-rated comedy. By comparison, Pixar’s Elemental opened to $29.6M off a $200M projected budget.

Paramount will hope word of mouth will see the film through to a profit. The starry cast should help. IF features several A-listers in Ryan Reynolds, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Steve Carell.

It's Krasinski's fifth film to date. His previous two were much bigger hits than IF: the first is 2018 horror movie A Quiet Place, which grossed $50 million in its opening weekend, and the second is its 2021 sequel, which did $47.5 million.

Critically, IF hasn't reviewed great. It's currently sitting at just 49% on Rotten Tomatoes. The lukewarm opening weekend doesn’t necessarily spell doom, however. It can still make back its money during the course of its run, but it’s hardly a positive start.

If only it was more like how the latest Gundam film smashed the series record at the Japanese box office.